


No Broken Promises

by kaiwaii



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, but only mild angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 16:50:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17512322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaiwaii/pseuds/kaiwaii
Summary: Sora thinks he's broken his promise. Luckily, Kairi's there to explain the true meaning of the oath he gave.





	No Broken Promises

**Author's Note:**

> Writing stuff like this is how I'm avoiding kh3 spoilers. Jan. 29th needs to get here a little faster!

               The crockery and furniture separated to opposing sides of the room, and only then did Kairi allow herself to relax, standing up straight and brushing her bangs aside to remove them from where they’d stuck to her forehead. Infinite mana for their training was pretty sweet, she wouldn’t lie, but it still took energy, and it wore her out just as much as endurance or strength training. It took Lea a moment more to relax, but Kairi watched him straighten up a few feet beside her, stretching his arms out. He didn’t look as worn out as she felt, but magic was his element (and Merlin had allowed him use of fire spells this session which was still _unfair_ , but she supposed he couldn’t ban it completely).

               Before either of them could say a word, Merlin clapped his hands together with a smile on his face that only grew as he addressed his pupils.

               “Splendid! The two of you are progressing faster than I originally thought!” His eyes flickered back and forth between the redheads before coming to rest on Kairi as he continued, “Your magic is improving wonderfully, my dear!” Kairi did her best not to grow shy under his praise, returning his smile with her own.

               “It helps that I can actually _cast_ some now.” In the beginning of her training, she’d had such difficulty conjuring any magic at all that she’d considered giving up completely. In the end, it had been _Lea_ who had given her the coaching she’d needed to finally cast her first spell. Since then, her spells had been improving, but new spells were almost just as difficult to learn to cast as the first one. They came quicker each time, but it still wasn’t easygoing. That was probably why she was a bit surprised by how optimistic Merlin was.

               “A few more sessions like this and we’ll have to start moving you onto higher tier spells.” That announcement filled Kairi with a nervous excitement that almost had her bouncing on her toes. Instead, she managed a little bow and an eager, “Thank you!”

               Merlin turned to Lea, wringing his hands together in a way that Kairi couldn’t help but feel like was a sign that her training partner was about to get torn into.

               “Lea! I’m very impressed by your speed--.” Clearly reacting to his praise, Lea stood up a bit straighter, “But, I’d like to see you use something _other_ than fire. Just because you are allowed to use it, that doesn’t mean you should rely on it.”

               Lea visibly deflated, and Kairi bit back a laugh as he held out his arms.

               “But, my fire’s _strong_!” Merlin wasn’t having that excuse.

               “And _easy_.” Lea scoffed, and Kairi tossed her keyblade over her shoulder, so it rested there, a smug look spreading across her face.

               “Maybe, you should take some lessons from _me_ next time!” She laughed as he reached over to simultaneously ruffle her hair and give her head a little shove.

               “Don’t push it, short stack.” They both laughed as Merlin continued to think, and he continued once he had their attention once again.

               “Tomorrow, we’ll- _oh_.” His sudden but soft exclamation put curious expressions on both Lea and Kairi’s faces. Neither of them had to ask before he spoke up again, excitement replacing the calculation that had been in his tone only moments before.

               “We have guests!” He didn’t elaborate, just waved his hands at them, “Don’t dawdle, now, I’m sure they’ll want to say hello!” And without any more explanation he vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Lea to wrinkle his nose and tilt his head towards the doorway.

               “Why doesn’t he ever just walk out?” He asked, but Kairi clearly wasn’t listening. Instead, she dismissed Destiny’s Embrace with a flick of her wrist, brushing her fingers through her hair in an attempt to fix it before addressing their apparent company.

               “Who do you think it is?” Lea shrugged, dismissing his own blade and crossing his arms.

               “No one to see _me_ , that’s for sure.” He didn’t let either of them dwell on the statement before approaching the door and opening it, “C’mon, Princess, something tells me you have a knight waiting.” Kairi tried to ignore the heat building up in her face as she stomped overdramatically past him and out of the chamber.

               “What? You can sense the visitors, too?” Lea just laughed, shaking his head and closing the door behind them.

               “No, it’s called being perceptive. Riku visited you last, which means it’s Sora’s turn, right? They always seem to end up alternating.” Honestly, Kairi hadn’t really noticed that, always being too excited that her friends had taken time to visit at all in the midst of their own preparations to make note.

               “I guess they do.”

               Their walk through the short hallway was silent, but not awkward. The exhaustion from training was beginning to sit in, and Kairi was sure that she’d need a nap after greeting the visitors.

               At least, until she saw who it was.

               Despite Lea’s warning, the sight of Sora still caught her off guard. It was clear he had barely made it through the door before being surrounded by the Restoration Committee, questions being tossed at him left and right. He seemed to take them all in stride, a wide smile on his face as he ensured that everyone got the same amount of attention. Watching him then, he seemed so mature, and it was hard for her to make the connection to the goofy boy he’d been when he’d first left the islands. And yet, there was something about him—especially his smile—that made it difficult for her to think about anything _but_.

               She didn’t want to intrude on the conversation, not when they clearly had so much to catch up on, but she couldn’t bring herself to retreat to her borrowed room. Every ounce of her exhaustion had been replaced with enthusiasm upon seeing him, and his visit was so much more than just a simple distraction from her training. She’d _missed_ him, and she wanted to know where he’d been and how he was doing and see for herself that he was okay.

               So, in her excitement, she called to him anyways.

               “Sora!”

               Despite the fact that she wasn’t very loud, he appeared to have heard her. His gaze turned, though his body held still, and he found the very same gap between Aerith and Leon that she was peaking at him from to look at her. But, his reaction was the exact opposite of hers. A grimace flashed across his face, and he ducked his head a bit, turning shamefully back to listen to Cid continue to drone on without sparing her a second glance.

               That… was far from the reaction she’d been expecting

               Immediately her smile fell, her face contorting into an expression that accurately displayed her confusion. Had she done something wrong? Had Merlin said something about her training that he hadn’t wanted to hear? Maybe, she wasn’t progressing quickly enough—she’d find it hard to look herself in the eye after hearing that, after all. Or, maybe he didn’t like the fact that she was training at all? As unlikely as any of it seemed, especially since Merlin himself had told her she was moving quicker than he’d originally thought she would, Kairi could do nothing about her imagination running wild. Searching for any reason that Sora might have to avoid her gaze, to turn away from her without so much as a hello.

               It was so unlike him, that she couldn’t do much but assume the worst.

               Evidently, she wasn’t the only one who had noticed Sora’s shift. Though she hadn’t been paying much attention to anyone else, Goofy had clearly been watching their little exchange. He clamped a gloved hand on Sora’s shoulder, and they shared a look before Sora let out a visible sigh and turned back towards her. She could see Goofy say something to the others, but she couldn’t hear a word over her rapidly beating heart thump-thumping in her ears. Whatever he said made the room clear, but she couldn’t quite focus on that either—which was a shame, because she was sure that she would have laughed at the way Lea had to bend over much too far when Donald grabbed his sleeve to pull him out of the house. Her focus was on Sora as he took slow, careful steps towards her.

               He was still clearly distraught, his lips curved low into a frown and his head bowed just enough that she couldn’t quite see his eyes as his hands slipped into his pockets. Even the distance away from her where he finally stopped was far too much. She couldn’t even reach him. Something was very, _very_ wrong.

               “Sora?” She took a step forward, her own expression full of concern. When he said nothing, she took another, until she was close enough that she could look up and see his eyes again. It may have been a trick of the light, but she could have sworn they shone with unshed tears.

               “Hey, what’s wrong?”

               A sigh left him, his breath wavering and unsteady as he gathered the courage to speak. His right hand started to shift in his pocket, and she could tell when he found what he was looking for as it stilled. Slowly, he raised his head to lock eyes with her, pulling his gloved hand from his pocket at a snail’s pace.

               “I’m so sorry, Kairi.”

               His hand extended towards her, his palm opening to reveal to her the object of his sadness.

               Her charm—well, pieces of her charm—rested in the palm of his hand. It was clear something had happened to it the moment she looked upon it. Two of the shells were gone completely, and of the three that remained, two more were in awful shape. One, the one where she had drawn the face, had very clearly been separated right down the middle. Half of the smiling face stared up at her, the other presumably lost forever with how delicate thalassas were. Only the round bottom of the shell remained of the second one, the rest of it looked as if it had been torn, leaving a jagged edge at the bottom. The crown pendant in the center, with nothing to secure to, had fallen loose, and sat, scraped and bent, just beside the charm. Miraculously, one shell remained entirely intact, the strings coming off of it keeping the small, broken pieces connected.

               A large part of her wanted to comfort Sora more than anything. It was clear now that it had been her reaction he’d been worried about. She wanted nothing more than to bring him comfort with a smile and a hug and reassurance that she would make him a new one. But a bigger part of her mourned the loss of the charm. It was meant to stand through anything. And though she knew their friendship was so much more than just a little symbol such as that, Kairi couldn’t help the sadness that bubbled up as she moved to scoop the remnants from Sora’s hand into her own.

               “Oh…oh, _no_.” It was all she could manage as she got the opportunity to study it closely. She couldn’t bring herself to run her finger along the broken edges, as if that would make it too real, she just cupped it in her hands and stared for a long moment.

               “How did this happen?”

               “The Organization.” He answered without a beat, suddenly sounding angry. Whether it was at himself or the Organization member, Kairi couldn’t say, “I went to this world, and there was a girl there. I’ve never met her before, but she knew so much about me…” for a moment, he looked puzzled, but then the anger returned and he continued.

               “She knew about the charm, too. She took it, and stepped on it, like it didn’t even matter!”

               This was a side of Sora she wasn’t quite sure how to handle. Never had he been so distraught over anything that happened on the Islands. There she’d been able to handle any emotion he could throw at here. But this? All she could offer were some soft-spoken words.

               “Sora, it’s okay--.”

               “No, it isn’t!”

               But, clearly, that wasn’t enough.

               “How do you keep forgiving me like this? I broke my promise!” It was in that moment that Kairi knew for sure that all of his anger was directed towards himself, not the Organization member that had ruined her charm. “I was supposed to bring this _back_ to you. And now? I _can’t_. ”

               His words ended on a sob, and one of his hands came up to press against his eyes. Kairi stood there for a moment, studying the charm as she contemplated her next words carefully.

               “Sora.” Her voice was stern, but quiet, just enough to get his attention. “Sora, look at me.”

               It took him a moment, but he did. His gloved hand lowered and his eyes, still shining with the tears he refused to shed, opened to meet her own.

               “Sora, it was _never_ about the charm.” She admitted with a little shake of her head. “All I _ever_ wanted was for you to come back to me.” Her hands extended, a gesture to let him know exactly what she was talking about.

               “I would rather see this broken a hundred times than for you to get injured protecting it.” Her words seemed to reach him, and she watched his brows quirk as his eyes opened wide, clearly surprised.

               “A charm can be remade,” Slowly, her fingers started pulling the pieces apart, removing the string and the broken shells, “There will always be more Thalassa shells, and so there can always be more charms.”

               The broken pieces and frayed string were placed gently on Merlin’s table, to be cleaned up later. One hand free, Kairi took one of Sora’s, delicately spreading his fingers so that she could place the final, intact Thalassa shell back into his hand.

               “But, there’s only one you. And you’re worth more than all the Thalassa shells on the islands, all the charms I could make.”

               Sora stared at the shell in his hand before delicately closing his fist around it, his expression unreadable.

               “So, you aren’t mad?” Kairi shook her head, finally managing a smile.

               “Not at all.” She promised, “I’m a little sad, because this charm meant a lot to us both. But, most of all, I’m happy.”

               She stepped closer, her hands reaching up to hold onto his cheeks, raising his head up just a bit more so she could watch him.

               “I’m happy that, whoever this organization member was, they didn’t hurt you. I’m happy because, no matter what, you’ve _always_ come back to me. No charm can change the fact that we’re together. And no Organization member, either.”

               She could see, by the little but heartfelt smile on his face, that her words had touched him. The hand that wasn’t holding the Thalassa shell came up to hold one of hers, his thumb moving gently against her palm and wrist. For a moment, his eyes closed, but when they opened to stare into hers again, he looked much more content than he had before.

               “Kairi-.”

               “We brought you ice cream!”

               The two jumped away as the door slammed open and Donald’s voice echoed through the house. Kairi could feel the heat building up in her face as she turned towards the door, watching as Donald, Goofy and Lea entered through the entryway with ice creams in hand. The three took the time to study their faces, and Kairi could tell they knew _something_ by the way Lea smirked and Goofy looked apologetic.

               “Gwarsh,” Goofy lowered the two ice creams he had in his hands, looking from Sora to Kairi and then back again, “We didn’t interrupt anythin’, did we?”

               “No, no, of course not.” Kairi spoke, waving a hand as Lea approached her to hand her an ice cream bar.

               “Yeah,” he scoffed, “That’s why your face is as red as _my_ hair.” He dodged the hand that reached out to swat him with a laugh.

               “Axel-!”

               “C’mon, the committee’s waiting for us.” He waved a hand as he walked out the door, not even turning around to face them, “Don’t wanna keep them waiting.”

               Sora approached Goofy, taking his own ice cream before beginning to follow them out the door. He paused when Kairi’s hand wrapped around his wrist, and she peaked up at him from just behind him.

               “You okay?” She asked, clearly wanting to check on him before the left. Pulling his hand from her grip, Sora opened his fist to reveal the Thalassa she’d given him. He grinned as he put it in his pocket, using his now free hand to take hers properly.

               “Yeah.” He told her, tone cheerful as he led her out the door.

               “Much better, thanks to you.”


End file.
